Andrea Martínez, 21, Becomes Mexico's First Female College Football Kicker

Andrea Martinez, 21, became the first female college football kicker in Mexico after she tried out to kick extra points for a Mexican college football team.

Andrea Martinez, a law student at the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), initially when she was competing for the spot, thought that it was a position on a women’s team and that there would be other women on the roster. However, only when she had won the spot, Martínez realized that she was going to become the first woman to play college football among men in the country’s top amateur division, NBC News reported.

“At first one did not dimension it well because I did not even fully understand that I was going to be the first woman,” Martínez said. “I thought there were more girls or that there was even going to be a women’s team.”

Martínez had played soccer since she was 12 years old. Even though she tried out to play professionally in the Liga Femenil MX, she didn’t make the cut and she continued playing soccer at her school. However, a few months ago, Pumas CU, the UNAM football team, decided to hold tryouts for a place-kicker.

“The decision I made was to try a new sport. Nothing else, just to venture out and see what it was all about,” Martínez said. “I was very happy when I heard the news that I had been the girl selected.”

Martínez said that she barely watched NFL games before playing football. She added that it helped that her brother was a fan of the sport, New York Post reported.

According to the NFL office in Mexico, the American sport continues to gain interest in the country and the sport has some 48 million fans in the country.

"There are little girls and boys who come and ask me for a photo or come up and say very nice words to me,” Martínez said. “It’s the most gratifying thing I’ve ever felt, being able to realize that, perhaps I'm inspiring them a little.”

There are several women who have played as place-kickers on male teams in the United States. Liz Heaston was the first woman to do it in 1997 with the Willamette Bearcats in the NAIA. Meanwhile, Ashley Martin was the first woman to score in an NCAA Division 1 game in 2001, while she was playing for Jacksonville State.